Submitted by Sara on Sun, 01/30/2011 - 04:40

 

...it was icing on the ornate structures of the city.

 

On my second day in L'viv, Ukraine, I started out with a stroll by two of the city's famous parks, which instead of feeling like city parks felt more like a state park or national park due to how expansive and natural they were. They were quite wooded, but I also had a few other things in them, like a ferris wheel all by itself at the top of a hill. L'viv has lots of gorgeous parks, including some that are more manicured. I plan on going back when it's warmer outside to get to enjoy all of them more, and when the snow is gone I can have picnics - yay!! :-) The snow did make the parks look lovely in a wintry way though, especially in the wooded areas where there were shimmering, frosted trees for as far back as I could see.

A road cutting through the two giant parks and snow-covered trees. Looks desolate, but it's actually not far from downtown:

 

The view from up top must be good:

 

After heading down the winding, hilly road, the city reappeared, as well as a bustling market that was apparently selling every kind of food known to man. The locals were packed in there, and every nook and cranny was occupied by different kinds of vendors offering fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and baked goods, along with some half-price Christmas decor thrown in. 

A busy, open-air, daily food market:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Another market shot - on the outskirts of it. Check out that lady's Florida bag, haha. Right then, Florida felt like a million miles away:
 
 
 
 

 

In the evening, I watched an opera in Ukrainian (hey, music is a universal language!) and I was quite excited, not only to see the show, but also to get to see the lavish interior of the building. It was an overall great time, with catchy, almost pop-like songs that got stuck in my head, along with a chance to see traditional Ukrainian outfits and home decor.

The beautiful opera house - an icon of L'viv - where I watched a show:

 

And the incredible interior, thanks to Wikimedia Commons users Robin & Bazylek from Kraków (my camera was out of batteries when I was inside):

 

 
 
 
I really loved the winding medieval streets and architectural styles of the city, both of which reminded me a lot of Krakow, but, as mentioned in my previous post, this is not a surprise since Ukraine was part of Poland until WWII. The various architectural styles, which often include lots of ornamentation, can be seen in the next few photos.
 
 
Some nice buildings:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
My awesome view during lunch with the opera house on the upper right:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This photo kind of plays tricks with my eyes...it matches up with the surroundings quite well! I guess they wanted to give a preview of what's to come after construction is finished, but it's also better than having a blank wall:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 

I enjoyed this vibrant, historical city very much, and with so much more to see and do and its fairly close proximity to Krakow, I can't wait to go back sometime soon!! But in my next post, it's off to Warsaw!

Until next time,

 

Sara :-)